


Boy Detective

by sunnynights



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Family, Family History, Forgiveness, Gen, Guilt, Hurt/Comfort, Past, Post-Canon, Post-Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:35:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23017885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunnynights/pseuds/sunnynights
Summary: Who was Angus McDonald before the Bureau of Balance, before the Tres Horny Boys, before the Rockport Limited?
Relationships: Angus McDonald & Taako, Magnus Burnsides & Angus McDonald, Merle Highchurch & Angus McDonald
Comments: 19
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place shortly after my fic Discordant Flavors.  
> Not that you have to read it to get this one, I just think you should bc its pretty good

Angus sat on the dining room chair, swinging his legs as he watched the elf cook up a storm. "You don't have to do this."

Taako ignored him, tasting from the bubbling pot on the stove. He frowned lightly, throwing in handfuls of the many spices lined up on the counter. With his other hand he waved a wand almost absentmindedly, turning a tall pile of vegetables into thin uniform slices. "What, and let you eat cafeteria food? As if."

"Your school opens in _two days._ You've got a million other things to think about!"

Taako's timer let out a light ring, and he ran over to the oven. He pulled on a pair of mitts before pulling out cake pans and placing them in an icebox to cool. "Exactly. I'll be busy then, with all the travel and the brand expansion and such, so I've got to make enough good home-cooked meals to last you a semester."

Angus looked at his shoes, grinning widely. He knew that cooking and feeding others were Taako's way of wordlessly expressing how much he valued them. Every spoon held out for tasting was a _Take care yourself._ Every time he was surprised with his favorite dinner was an _I'll miss you._ And this barrage of food, this assault on his Neverwinter freezer, was the ultimate _I love you._  
"Thank you, dad."

It was Taako's turn to look away. He busied himself with sliding several casserole dishes into the blazing oven, dumping used bowls and utensils into the sink. It was strange to hear Angus call him that. Foreign but not unwelcome, as it never failed to get him choked up. Ever since Angus admitted that he saw him and Kravitz as father figures, Taako took it to heart. He would do his best to be whatever Angus needed, to help this bright, kind boy flourish. Taako slipped off the oven mitts and seated himself at the table. "You don't have to call me that if it's weird for you."

Angus met Taako's eyes and shook his head. "It's perfect. It feels more right than calling you sir."

He pulled his long, blond hair out of the messy bun, letting it fall perfectly behind him. "I still don't know why you did that. Magnus, Merle and I are literally the farthest from authority figures you can be."

"That’s just what they taught us at the orphanage. If you treat the grownups with respect and show maturity, you're more likely to be adopted. Force of habit, I guess."

“Oh.” Taako could see Angus’s lightness falter, like the mention of his past weighed on his shoulders. “I never knew you lived in an orphanage.”

He kicked his legs more vigorously. "I was born in Raven's Roost, like Magnus. When everyone fled the city, my mom left me at an orphanage in Neverwinter. I grew up there."

Taako put his hand on Angus's shoulder. "How did you get on the Rockport Limited?"

"I was supposed to be adopted in Rockport. That's why I was dressed so fancy. But I waited at the station all day and no one came. I got a message the next day that they changed their mind and I was going back to the orphanage. I was on my way back when I met you and Merle and Magnus."

"What about being hired by the city to find the Rockport Slayer? And your grandfather's death day, the silverware?"

"I heard about the serial killer while at the station, and I decided that I wasn't going back to the orphanage. I wanted to be just like Caleb Cleveland. So I wrote my own story, where I could be the world's greatest detective. All the grandfather stuff was a lie." Angus smiled despite the tears running down his cheeks. "They got my bags mixed up and I ended up with a bunch of silverware. So you don't have to feel so bad that you stole it."

Taako's heart ached. He understood being unwanted, being passed around, but at least he hadn't done it alone. Eyes watering, he threw his arms around Angus. "I'm so sorry that you went through this. "

Angus wiped his tears. "That's okay! If it didn't happen, I wouldn't have met you and found out about the Bureau of Balance. So it all worked out."

"Kravitz and I will take care of you. And so will Lup and Barry and everyone else. You don't have to be alone ever again."

"Thanks, dad." Angus snuggled closer, his head against Taako's chest.

“We could probably find your birth parents if you want. A lot of bad things happened at Raven's Roost, but they might still be out there.”

“It doesn’t take a detective to know when someone doesn’t want to be found. You guys are my family now. Besides, all I have are their names. Anitra and Kalen." Angus felt Taako stiffen and pull away. He glanced at the elf. Taako had a certain look in his eyes, the same look he got when someone choked on his cooking or when Lup went somewhere without telling him. "Taako?"

"What did you say just now?"

"You're my family, I don't need..."

"Your dad's name is Kalen? And you're from Raven's Roost?"

"Yeah. Do you know him?"

 _"Fuuuuuuck."_ Taako stood up suddenly, shaking his head. "No, it's nothing, it's fine. I love you, Ango. We don't have to talk about this anymore." He walked briskly to the icebox and pulled the cake pans out, along with several bowls of colored icing. "Wanna help me frost these? You can lick the bowls when we're done."

Angus jumped out of his chair and joined Taako at the counter. Taako handed him a spatula and together they decorated the cakes, as well as each other's faces. Angus cheered as he caught a flying dollop of cream in his mouth, but he couldn't help but feel like Taako's thoughts were elsewhere.


	2. Chapter 2

The stars blinked and twinkled, as if tempting Angus to close his own eyes, but he stayed awake and stared. Outer space was his newest interest. Ever since his adventures stopping the apocalypse taught him about different planes and worlds, he was endlessly fascinated by the mysteries of the night sky. But tonight there was no studying or theorizing, just counting. The number of stars seemed to be endless. No one would notice if there was one more, and no one would care if there was one fewer. A housekeeper at the orphanage used to call him a shining star while she pinched his cheeks. He had always worn the compliment like a badge of honor. But it didn't lead to him being adopted. Anonymous, abundant, and irrelevant in a sea of unwanted stars.

Angus rolled over roughly in his sleeping bag. He knew he was being ridiculous. Taako and Kravitz wanted him. Lup and Barry loved him. Lucretia, Magnus, and Lucas Miller needed him. If he wasn't wanted, he wouldn't be here camping with Merle, Mavis, and Mookie. They practically kidnapped him after he spent the last twenty-four hours watching Taako tear his hair out over last-minute preparations for the school. Although, camping was a generous way of putting it. They were hard-pressed to find a forest in the middle of metropolitan Neverwinter, so they set up on the next best thing, which happened to be Lord Artemis Sterling's castle courtyard. Who was, at best, reluctantly acquiescing.

Angus kept replaying that moment from the kitchen in his head. _We could probably find your birth parents, if you want._ He said no almost immediately, but now he wasn't so sure. He was finally in a place where he felt secure, safe, loved. What better time to go looking? Angus tried to remember something from before the orphanage. He had been so little. A warm smile, a tender touch, anything. But all he knew was what the caregivers told him. A boy of dark skin and curly hair, wrapped in a blanket and placed in a cardboard box on their doorstep. And the scrap of paper with his mother's hasty scrawlings: _angus, ravens roost, mother anitra_. And at the very bottom, as if an afterthought, _father kalen_.

That name. Taako had such a severe reaction to it, he had to have known something. It was time for detective work. Angus sat up, putting his glasses on in a vain attempt to see in the dark. A few feet away were Merle and Mavis' deafening snores, and Mookie somehow sleeping through them. Angus slipped out of his sleeping back and prodded the old dwarf.

Merle snorted awake. "Uh, pistils and stamen." He blinked and rubbed his eyes. "Angus? It's the middle of the night."

"Sorry, sir, I just had a question."

"Lucretia says I'm not allowed to teach you things anymore after our birds and the bees talk."

"That's not...please don't bring that up again. And it's not what I had a question about." He took a deep breath. "Do you know the name Kalen?"

"...oh boy."

Angus squinted in the darkness, trying to make out Merle's face. "So you do know him."

"He's kind of a bad guy, Ango."

"Oh." Angus felt his heart drop, but he pushed on. "What did he do?"

"I think he was the governor or something of where Magnus lived after the Voidfish. Magnus overthrew him with his wife, but he came back and attacked the town. He killed a lot of people."

"Did he...did he kill Magnus's wife?"

"Sure did. And the way he talks about her, gosh, she was his everything. He'd do anything to get revenge, but...Just don't mention him to Magnus, alright? He wouldn't understand."

Angus tried to discreetly wipe the tears running down his face. "Okay, sir."

"Why do you ask, anyway?"

"I'm really tired now, sir. I think I'm going back to bed." Angus stumbled back to his sleeping bag and held his breath. Once he could hear Merle's snores return with a vengeance, he began to sob as silently as he could. His father was a killer. Worse, his father hurt one of his best friends. Angus spent the rest of the night watching the stars, wishing his own light would blink out and save the rest of the sky the trouble.


	3. Chapter 3

Murderer was such an ugly, dirty word. Even just thinking it clawed at Angus's throat like a horrid beast. He used to wonder why Taako had such awful night terrors about what happened at Glamour Springs, why he woke up gasping and crying and needing Kravitz to hold him until the sun rose, even after he found out that it wasn't his fault. Now he understood the guilt of being even loosely connected to someone capable of so much bad, knowing the blood that ran through his veins was capable of spilling others.

The worst part was knowing Magnus wouldn't understand. What had Merle meant? Angus had played it out over and over again in his mind. Magnus raising his axe against him, Magnus clenching his teeth and saying it was fine, Magnus wordlessly disappearing back to his home in Raven's Roost and never looking at him again.

He fidgeted in his suit, unable to tell whether he was being choked by his tie or his feelings. The opening of Taako's Amazing School of Magic had gone off without a hitch, and Taako and Ren basked in their success at this reception. As much as Angus wanted to celebrate with them, he was preoccupied with making sure Magnus was across the room from him at all times. His eyes raced frantically, having lost sight of him for a second.

"Boo!"

Angus nearly shot into the air as the man in question appeared directly behind him.

"And Carey said I never used my rogue skills." He laughed, warm and full-bodied. Magnus was dressed neatly in a brown suit and a dog bow tie, and his beard was freshly trimmed. "I hauled ass all the way from Raven's Roost and you didn't even come say hi to me!" He held out his arms, his grin dropping slightly when he saw how rigid Angus was. "Hey Ango, are you okay?"

Angus opened his mouth but no words came out. He just started crying.

"Oh shit. Uhhh," Magnus' eyes raced between the sobbing child and the people beginning to stare. Taako and Ren turned, looking for the source of the distraction. Unable to think of another option, he awkwardly threw Angus over his shoulder and ran out of the hall. Magnus put him down carefully on the side of the street. "What's wrong, buddy?"

"I...I can't tell you," Angus said between hiccups.

Magnus knelt to match his height. "You can tell me anything."

Angus shook his head vigorously. "I can't. It would make you feel bad."

"I feel pretty bad right now knowing that you're unhappy." Magnus wiped Angus's tears and looked at him earnestly.

Angus tried to hold back but the words spilled out of him. "I can't tell you because my family hurt yours and I know how much you loved her and I'm really sorry and I don't know what to do but I would never do that so I hope you don't hate me." He took a breath and burst into tears again.

Magnus blinked several times, struggling to parse what had just been said. "Um, alright." He sat down and patted the ground next to him. Angus obliged, leaning into his side. After a few seconds of wordlessly watching Angus, waiting for his choking sobs to quiet, Magnus spoke.

"Do you know the most important thing in this world?"

Angus shook his head.

"Empathy. You can't always avoid making mistakes, but you have to own up to them. Me, Merle, Taako, Lucretia, we've all done bad things that we feel awful about and we'll spend the rest of our lives trying to make up for them." He looked at Angus with kindness in his eyes. "But it takes a special kind of person to feel bad for things you didn't even do. I could never hate you for someone else's actions, and I don't think they have any control over the kind of person you want to be."

Angus wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Really?"

"Really. You're a hero, Angus, and whoever you're worried about can't ever take that from you." He held his burly arms out and Angus fell into the embrace.

"My dad is Governor Kalen," Angus murmured. He pulled away and searched Magnus's face for pain, realization, anger, anything. But he was met with silence. "Magnus?"

His smile didn't wane. His eyes were hollow, empty. He cocked his head in confusion. "Who?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you tell I didn't know where I was going with this fic and just decided to make it one long sledgehammer to the heart


End file.
